My duty is to translate craft into design that sells: Anita Dongre

It’s tough being a designer in this country. Some of the biggest design names have seen shaky retail periods and the up-and-coming ones have struggled to stay true to their design aesthetic and put a successful retail model in place. However, there are design houses who have seamlessly struck a balance between commercial and creative aspects. 

Designer Anita Dongre’s success attests to the fact that a terrific retail sense combined with a simplistic-yet-distinctive aesthetic can work wonders. I meet her at the newly opened Grassroot store in Bandra and she comes across as a kinetic bundle of ideas as she takes me through every rack and section — each one devoted to a unique craft. 
Dressed in a cobalt blue tunic, she layers it with a neck piece from Grassroot — her new centre of focus. She offsets the easy chic look with a vegan bag handcrafted by craftsmen in Kashmir. Being a vegetarian she wanted to create a line of ethical, cruelty-free bags which also provides employment to craftsmen sitting in remote villages. She could easily be India’s answer to Stella McCartney.  
She proudly beams, “This is my first vegan bag. I have struggled to create a bag line which doesn’t use leather and it was the toughest thing ever. Why would I want to carry a leather bag where an animal has been killed brutally for its leather? I can’t do that. We’ve done four lines of bags — one is with Kashmiri craftsmen, another handcrafted by women from Sewa which have beautiful Bhuj embroidery, a third line with handwoven zaris from Benaras and a fourth line of evening clutch bags with miniature paintings from Udaipur’s artisans.  

Contemporarising the craft
Titled Anita Dongre Grassroot, this line is a canvas of India’s craft history and a tribute to the handcrafted tradition from across Indian villages. However, Grassroot was actually started seven years ago, but Anita couldn’t give the energy it deserved. She did a line with vegetable dyes which she had sourced from Sawantwadi. Due to constraints of running the business and several other things, it took a backseat. However, since the last two years, she felt an urgent need to do something. “Certain crafts are on the verge of fading out and the sooner I moved onto the Grassroot the better. Honestly, it was something I wanted to give time.” Over the last  two years, she travelled to quite a few places all over India. About a year ago she got approached by an NGO Sewa who work with artisans. They needed to contemporarise the craft but they were at loss. “The kind of craft they did 20 years ago is not relevant today. My team went to Gujarat and we began work with artisans there. A lot of people travelled to Benaras, Jodhpur, Varanasi and Andhra Pradesh — we started sourcing and connecting with crafts people. We’ve just begun and there’s a lot more we’ve been wanting to do. This is the beginning. The whole idea of working with the craftsmen is also sustaining them throughout the year. I did not want it to be a one-off collection for a fashion week. I wanted to treat it as a separate, complete business within the company.”
She’s working on three principles — revive, sustain and empower. “My duty is to translate the craft into design that sells today. The minute I do that, it’s a way of the craftsman getting sustainable work.”

Eco-friendly design house 
Set amidst vibrant green hills, Anita Dongre’s new design headquarter in Vashi gives the teams and all 300 employees an opportunity to live, work and think green. “The idea came four years ago. I wanted to build an eco-friendly design house. I started looking for land and realised that it was impossible to do so in the city. It’s a beautiful location in Navi Mumbai. It’s a completely different environment offering satisfaction which comes from working at a place. It’s a pure luxury.”

Heading umbrella of brands
 “AND came about when I saw a desire to wear completely western clothes. It was a changing society which I observed 17-18 years ago. It was also a reflection of what I wanted to wear. Global Desi came later but that’s what I was in my early 20s. I was a gypsy. I had tremendous fun creating that label. I never had more fun. Anita Dongre Bridal was inevitable. I come from Rajasthan. It was my dream and desire to make women even in their 40s want to get married again. I have had hundreds of women come to me and say, ‘I want to get married in it’. For me to some level it was spiritually satisfying to go back to Rajasthan.” 

Print overkill 
The phrase ‘quirky print’ is the most abused in fashion today and every young label is jumping on to the print bandwagon. “The phrase I never used for Global Desi was ‘quirky print’. I don’t think we’re quirky, we are more fun and young. Even my AND customers - when they go to Goa they buy Global Desi. The label is now evolving into so many other facets. I always have a woman in my head. The Global Desi girl is a bohemian, free-spirited traveller.”

Gota patti magic
“The only technology we use is intellect to make the gota patti light. What brides love is they look like a million bucks in a gota patti lehenga but lehengas are light. They dance in them, they have fun and they treasure them. That’s what I wanted.”

Early love for dance
“I love dancing. I did Bharat Natyam as a child for many years and I always aspired to be a dancer. I came from a traditional family where dance wasn’t really encouraged. I did it till I was 12 by when I was 14-15 I knew I wanted to be a designer. Both dance and design are creative.”

Family business 
“My younger sister studied design and my younger brother looks after the retail. I started with family but today it’s a company – with best professionals from different parts of the country.”

Message for designers
“Stay true to your designs but somewhere you need to think about who’s the women you’re designing for. Design is bought by a woman – who’s that woman and why is she buying it? Interact with women who buys your clothes. When you get into their psyche you will understand. It’s important to listen, it’s important to have empathy, she’s trying to tell you something which is important.”

Bollywood for my brand
One’s keen to ask why hasn’t she styled a film ever? “I’m not a stylist but designer. I style my own shoots – the Jaipur bride campaign. I love it. There is a lot of emotion involved with it. But I don’t have the patience for Bollywood. I would love to do Red Carpet. I’m in fact launching the Red Carpet collection in October. We’re also doing Red Carpet lines in Grassroot and Anita Dongre. Bollywood is important because some of the girls we have today are gorgeous. They have beautiful bodies and a great sense of fashion. Bollywood is what everyone follows and look up to.”

Social media
“I love social media because I like any direct connect with my customer. They tell you what they want.”

Creative block
“I swear to you whenever I’ve had a mental block, I’ve taken a trip to Rajasthan and come back with 100 ideas. There’s something about the state, it inspires you. You look at something, you’ve probably seen it all your life but it’ll look new again. I take hundreds of pictures of each city I visit.”

Venture into cosmetics
“Perfume I’d love to do. However, I hardly use cosmetics. That’s the last thing on my mind. Currently, my mind is bursting with ideas.”

Motherhood
“It’s beautiful being a mother. I’ve a very fashionable son with a discerning, critical eye. Yash has got fantastic taste and an impeccable eye. He’ll notice a fault in something within minutes. It’s good to have a critic at home.”

Dream actress I’d love to dress
“Angeline Jolie – she’s a great humanitarian. I’m saying it since you asked however I’ve never given it any thought.”